[Conference Call] Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M 78C° Throttling [SEE POST #191 and later]

Thanks, I'd missed that point but obvious now you point it out.

The pics are going to be interesting to compare with what I have and the engineer shows up with...

 

Ok guys, i took pictures of the card, various angles. Let me know if you need better images or different angles.

 

Looks fine to me

 

I just had the dell engineer visit to replace my heatsink (as advised on the conference call). It was supposed to be both the heatsink and the card but we all know about the shortages so I'm waiting on that part to come later. I thought I post a couple of pics to show what was found along with some comments on the engineer.

1. He did not attempt to clean the card and was going to assemble 'as is' until I stopped him and asked he clean it.
2. He then started to assemble without using the supplied paste. I asked him to use it and he said 'it doesn't need it' but will do it as I asked.

The original paste job looked good to me BUT one of the pads was missing - I've seen other pics with this missing as well.

New heatsink



Old heatsink. The missing memory pad stayed on the card and the tech pulled it off and threw it but note the copper area, top left, where the pad was missing!
Upshot for me is a drop in temps across the board of around 4C, not much but on these cards every degree counts. Some of the reduction would probably be due to the fluff in the heat exchanger under the fan though. Machine is only around 3 months old but it was pretty bad. Def one for people to watch out for when cleaning.

 

That is scary! I almost want to crack mine open to check for problems now, lol.

 

Updated 2:53PM - My apologies. The email address below is only for USA and Canada customers. All others must use the Dell Technical Support channels for their country. Be sure to reference this post when you communicate with them.

* USA and Canada customers contact: [email protected]
* Provide the following information:
Service Tag =
Name =
Shipping Address =
Phone Number =
Best Time To Reach You =
Email Address =
Issue = M17x-R3 Nvidia GeForce GTX580m N12E-GTX2 throttling at 78C°
Need = Onsite Service or Parts Only Service (means you would do the work yourself)
Parts Needed =
3MF8R Nvidia GeForce GTX580m N12E-GTX2 Video Card
V1K2G Nvidia GeForce GTX580m N12E-GTX2 MXM Thermal Module Heat Sink

 

That's a really nice pic of fully padded, nicely pasted heatsink. Although from what I read in last couple of post, those top edges are scorching hot, it's still good to try and reduce heat as much as possible by pasting those L areas.

 

Thanks Chris , it is done.

Thanks and yes I saw that, just hoping to give me some headroom

 

Wow, so many pages of this.

I have this problem when playing Skyrim. After playing it for an hour or so I would get really massive slowdowns (to the point where you can't do anything really) that would last for about a minute or so (and you can hear the fans on MAX). Then it would happen again in another hour (could be more, could be less, kinda hard to tell a more specific time-frame when playing something as addictive as Skyrim).

At first I thought it was the anti-virus scanning something, Windows Update, or something else, but I've always alt-tabbed to find that there is no rogue application doing this.

It's really annoying and it does disrupt gaming sessions fairly frequently. Does this mean there's something wrong with my system, or is that common behavior that should be addressed with the software and firmware tweaks found in this forum?

I did read quite a bit, but there's really so much information I thought it would be easier to just ask.

 

GUYS may be I can help: if you provide a copy of gtx 580 vbios , I can do some editing and change the ascii values , to trottle at higher temperatures.

 

Dude, that's not going to fix it. We've been working at this for months. It's limited by BIOS, and it is not going to be changed. Dell has said so themselves in the conference call that a lot of us were in. I think we have had enough fun with your magical VBIOS's, lol

 

You can use my guide to remove all throttling:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...x-r3-580m-thermal-throttling.html#post8345887

If you still get issues then you likely have a faulty or poorly installed heatsink and you should contact Dell to get service.

Just what we all need, a lying 12 year old editing our bioses in notepad and bricking cards. Just a warning to anyone who might not know, this guys has lied in the past and does not deliver, don't waste your time with him.

 

OH sorry if the ascii editin method fails, but I got the gtx 580m vbios and read it, I saw some ascii values showing '78' in two places, and I have seen r3 also in certain parts, and wait im not to edit bios with note pad,
I just wanted to help , nothing more, if you consider me a kid, then thats ok.
I should travel to EVGA forums soon time then you guys wont have my annoyance. good byee

 

Hi , could you, kindly, better explain your solution for throttling ?

Thank You

 

So I think I must have gotten a good unit from the outlet. I was playing Skyrim today, completely maxed, using a U3 cooler, and my temps never went above 62c on the 580m. Gonna try without the cooler and see what happens next time.

 

There are values set in vbios, I serioulsy did see in two places '78' ascii value, so I suspect it coulnd be the the one that helps to trottle. but I can edit that value to '99' but how can I test it? I have an gtx 560m vga card,can I test it with it , will the temp go over 78 with that card?
I can risk this because I have vbios programmer if anything goes wrong I can flash the chip, i just want to take the risk.. but note im going to test this with a gtx 560m vga card. but for gtx 580m someone else have to risk it.

 

The algorithm that initiates thermal throttling in the R3 is contained in the system bios/EC, not the vbios. Nothing you change in the 580M (or 560M) vbios is going to make any difference.

 

are you sure, But I did see some '78' value, where can I get R3 bios?
il try looking in to it.

 

hi , you can find R3 bios on Driver e download | Dell [Italia]

or Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]


Please , if i find a MSI GT783 GTX580M vbios , can you lock if there is the 78 value? (edit i find it)

http://gentechpcforums.com/Images/MSI/GT783/MSI_GT783-VBIOS.zip

 

THanks for bios link but it doesnt allow me to download, can you provide a direct link of bios.

and did you find the '78' value?
if you didnt I can look for it, but please dont try to edit vbios with notepad it will brick your card for sure, because checksum differs.
thanks.

 

kakaroth's link for the MSI vBIOS works perfectly, i got the file in a split second.
Try it again.

 

Thanks but, I need the m17x r3 bios. just to look inside, if I could see some '78'
values il report back.
thanks katalin.

 

hi , the link works good . I do not know how to post it directly .

Have you checked if on Msi vbios there is a 78 value ?

 

Ya the vbios link works good, but I was asking for m17x r3 Bios link,

Didnt you tell me that you found it , do you want me to search?
if so , tell me now, it takes some time , when playing with ascii.

 

Here is a GTX 580M vBIOS ROM you can look at. It's the same for a R3 and the M18x unless something has changed that I don't know about. I've modded the clocks and voltage, but don't see any place where throttle temp thresholds can be adjusted. (At least not using NiBiTor or Svet's vBIOS Tuner. Those fields are grayed out in NiBiTor for mobile Fermi GPU.)

 

dont know why I care...but he is asking for M17x R3 bios (A08,09, etc...)

 

Ah, sorry. I missed that. I saw someone mentioned vBIOS. Sorry for not paying closer attention.

Why not just download the sBIOS or vBIOS directly from Dell? Either one, in fact. Just need to extract the ROM/BIN files from the executable package, which shouldn't be too tough for someone with BIOS editing experience.

Drivers and Downloads|Dell [United States] - Alienware M17xR3 BIOS A08

Drivers and Downloads|Dell [United States] - Alienware M17xR3 GTX 580M vBIOS

 

Thanks a lot,
this is what I needed , il take a nice look inside the bios and get back here.

what bios does alienware m17x uses ? eg: AMI , phoenix , etc... whic one?

 

yes , sorry for my bad English , could you check for it please?

I do not understand ashii

 

It's Insyde .

 

Thanks. im in to it.
@kara , il be peeping inside your vbios after r3 bios.,
thank you,.

DONE!!!!
up for now just found one '78' value , and I have only searched 12% . i cant even look at the wall my eyes shows numbers all over it.
will take some rest and continue.

 

Looking at the ascii representation of a binary bios file tells you very little. The "7" that you see could be the last byte in the previous hexadecimal word and the "8" would then be the first byte in the following word. The fact that the 7 and 8 appear together in notepad is not an indication that this is where the throttle limits are stored. Furthermore, flashing a vBIOS or BIOS to your unit from a file that has been modified in a text editor has a 99.99% chance of bricking your GPU or motherboard. I write microcontroller code for a living and you cannot edit the compiled code in a meaningful way once I have assembled and linked it. The output of that process is only useful to the debugger, processor, and tools written specifically for decompiling it.

The bios editing tools grey out those values because the bytes don't line up the way expected or the developer knows that changing them bricks the part. If anyone wants to play around with it, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I just wanted to go on record saying that anyone "testing" a BIOS modified in this way should be prepared to replace the motherboard. I doubt that it could even be fed into the POST process because the checksum after notepad got through with it would be very different than expected. The utilities available for editing these kinds of files recalculate the checksum and sign the output or it wouldn't be usable. Text editors don't do that. The person editing the file would have to manually calculate the correct checksum and this is done by converting the byte values manually as well since the code is likely compiled 32 or 64 bit and notepad is trying to represent them all as 8 bit ascii or 16 bit unicode.

 

No one should be trusting this guy ever anyway. Like a week ago he was lying about having the 675m vBios. You really want someone who would lie on the internet for attention to modify a bios that you will then flash to your $$$$ machine and possibly kill it?

Also, the throttle is not in the vBios (confirmed because a Dell 580m will work throttle free in other laptops), and the real bios is not easy to change. People from BiosMods have tried to modify the R3 bios before without much luck, hence where the unlocked bios and other system bios tricks came from.

 

LOL thats funny , you think im going to edit bios in notepad ,man thats epic, didnt you read what i mentioned earlier?

When I mess with bios , I keep balancing the checksum with my software, if the checksum chaNGES , I have to do it from first, thats why it takes longer to finish

 

Having not had the most fantastic ownership experience with an Asus G73JH I was almost at the point of ordering an Alienware M17X R3 tonight to replace it.

We've had fantastic experiences with the 13" inspiron and 15" inspiron laptops that wifey and eldest use and with wifeys old XPS M1710 that I'm using right now (having recovered it from behind the sofa when the G73 broke again).

But despite all that, this thread and the response from Dell has persuaded me to go and buy the MSI alternative instead.

 

Funny since I know at least four of us who used to own MSI machines or are going to migrate from MSI soon.

 

Checked out the MSI web site and there is no way to customize your order you have to take what they have no CPU up-grade ram or anything else it is a take it or leave it laptop.

 

Well they have like 4 very active resellers in the MSI threads: gentech, xotic, powernotebooks and rkcomputers. At their site you can reconfigure as much as you can afford, plus matte screen but still the build quality, ease of use and customer care after sale is no where near as good (IMO).

 

So recieved the new card and heatsink, installed and its worse. I have mounted in different setups with same results. Furmark less than 5 min hitting throttle. Have tried my old heatsink with the thermal pads reccomended from another post on here. Tried dells paste and mx-4 and still same issues. Maybe they sent me a dud. Im really sick of this throttling and didnt pay $3000 for a machine i cant game on.

Get your game together Dell.... Fix this issues by replacing the 580 with an equivalent 6XX series.

Thanks for making my first Alienware purchase a regret.

 

Sorry for the hassle, but please see Chris's post. It sounds like you may want to skip the heat sink replacement, since you've done the re-application yourself. Just let the L3's at that email address know what you'd like to see as a resolution. I can't speak to what they would do, but you can always tell them what would make you satisfied with your purchase. They will let you know what they can do.

 

Yes I have re-used my heatsink and the new heatsink with the same results. I am not a happy customer at all. This is advertised as a "Gaming" notebook and I cant even Game with it. *sigh* No offense meant to people who are actually trying to help with resolving the issue but seriously dell has to get their head out of u know where and resolve this issue. First they deny deny deny now they admit somewhat but still no permanent resolution. I have repasted countless times to ensure i havent had a bad paste, even tried different methods and still no luck.

 

I'll say I don't agree. I never denied the issue, and I've been here in the discussion all along. Perhaps someone else denied it, and if a denial is web posted anywhere, I'd appreciate a link so I calibrate whoever is denying the issue. I assure you I will get that company representative up to speed in a hurry.

The official permanent resolution is to have your heat sink assembly replaced onsite or at the depot. If that fails to resolve the issue for you, you need to take it up with the L3's to see what they can do for you, as again, I can't speak for them. I can, however, speak to them on your behalf, and happy to do so.

Again, sorry for the hassles. I know it's frustrating. I would be frustrated too, but I'd give the L3's a shot at resolution before I got too wound up.

 

Check into my service calls with Alienware Tech support thats where the denial is.... I was told it was game issues and I had to pay $120 for their service to troubleshoot any longer. The plan in place to fix the issue has not... Bill I appreciate all your help but these replacement parts will just give the same issues as they are the same parts for most.

 

So, you paid $120 and got no resolution, if I'm reading correctly? If that's the case, if you hit either of the support links in my sig, the social media team should be able to do something for you. (Again, I can't officially speak for them or tell them what to do.) If you use Twitter to contact them, put @BillatDell on the tweet, so they can ask me for the back story if needed. Even if you don't have a Twitter account, you can set one up just for this. It's a snap. Then follow @DellCares and me. Even if you never use Twitter again, it's a pretty speedy path to resolution compared to email, chat or phone support.

As far as where you are in the solution path, I would email the L3's and let them know what you want and what we and you have already tried. You may just get what you ask for. If you want to cc me on the email, hit me up in PM, and I'll give you my email address.

 

I can fun Furmark at Max resolution and the highest temp I get is 70oC. Now I have done some cutting of my bottom cover(have extra one) to expose the heatsink of gpu and cpu. I have some heatsinks on order that I will be sticking to the heatsinks to help dissipate the heat. I also have a coolmaster laptop cooler with fans blowing into the openings. Is Dell offered us a base cover with more air intakes this may help the problem.

 

Hello all,

I am a new (french) member ahd it is a pleasure for me to join your community.
I have bought a m17x r3 with a gtx580m graphic cards.
As I can see, I have the same throttle problem with my laptop as you.
Then I decided to open and repaste the card.
But, I have the problem with one of the pad.
Actually, I supposed this is an amount of paste on the pad, as you can see on the photo (red), and the long "broken" band doesn't execute his function.

What can I do? Change all of pads and replace, in this way, the band throughout the card? Can you give me a good brand?


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Thanks for your support.

 

The thin strip of compound that should have been along one side was not placed correctly and had gotten under another part, probably causing the heatsink to not seat correctly. look back in this thread for my pics of a factory paste job. I believe this strip should contact one of the voltage regulators - the hottest part of the card! If you are still under warranty dell will send you a new pre-pasted heatsink.

 

Thanks for your message Micky, I have phoned to Dell, they are ok for changing the heatsink

 

Good news, you're welcome. It's on their (alienware support) radar now so nobody should have to go through hoops to get a replacement

FYI I just received a replacement card and heatsink and unlike some others, it is all fixed! Stock clocks and some hardcore gaming and I never even see the P1 throttle. Temp never goes over 63C. Even OC'in up to 710 the P1 does not cut in and temp is still stable at 63C. I pushed it in small increments up to 780 (only for a test not normal usage) with the temp only reaching 69C.

 

Great! What thermal paste do you used? Have you changed original pads? Your results are amazing!